Principal Investigators
Brad Wouters
PhD
Professor
Marianne Koritzinsky
PhD
Associate Professor
Staff
Stephen Chung
Lab Manager
Julie Owens
Administrative Assistant
Anthony Joshua
MBBS, PhD
Affiliate Scientist
Stefano Marastoni
PhD
Scientific Associate
Stefano is supervised by Dr. Wouters and Dr. Joshua. He completed his PhD in Clinical Sciences in Italy and is currently a Scientific Associate.
Stefano’s research is focused on drug repurposing, drug development and targeting of lysosomal biology in cancer.
Ravi Vellanki
PhD
Scientific Associate
Ravi is supervised by Dr. Wouters. He completed his PhD in biotechnology and is currently a Scientific Associate.
Ravi’s research interests include R&D of cancer cell signaling, chemical probes, small molecule inhibitors and formulations.
Rob Cairns
PhD
Scientific Associate
Rob is supervised by Dr. Wouters. He completed his PhD in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto and is currently a Scientific Associate.
Rob has long standing interest in the tumor microenvironment and tumor metabolism, with a focus on the role of oxygen. His work has focused on the effects of the tumor microenvironment on metabolism and on identifying opportunities to manipulate the tumor microenvironment to achieve improved clinical outcomes.
Lucie Malbeteau
PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Lucie is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. She completed her PhD at the Université of Lyon, in France and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow.
Lucie’s project investigates whether disrupting redox homeostasis drives the activation of innate immunity signaling in pancreatic cancer and can be fully harnessed in combination with radio- and immune-therapy. She has a particular interest in one anti-oxidant protein, PRDX4.
Ronald Wu
PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ron is supervised by Dr. Wouters. He completed his PhD in the department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow.
Jasmine Randhawa
MSc
Research Technician II
Jasmine is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. She completed her Masters at McGill University and is currently a Research Technician.
During her graduate degree, Jasmine’s research was focused on female reproductive physiology. Specifically, she conducted her research on mice models to explore the role of Cnr1 receptor in ovarian granulosa cells. As a technician, she now plays a key role in supporting all in vivo work ongoing in the lab.
Andrea Pyo
MSc
Research Technician I
Aleksandra Pesic
Research Technician II
Graduate Students
Ji Zhang
PhD Candidate
Graduate Student
Ji is supervised by Dr. Wouters. He completed his undergraduate degree in Human Biology from the University of Toronto. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.
The genetic drivers determining an individual tumour’s hypoxia level is currently unknown. Ji’s research is focused on using a matching panel of primary PDAC, patient-derived-xenografts, and organoids, to create a predictive model of tumour hypoxia consisting of the genes/pathways driving cellular oxygen consumption rate, hypoxia tolerance, and perfusion
Mark Zaidi
PhD Candidate
Graduate Student
Mark is supervised by Dr. Wouters. He completed his undergraduate degree in Biology with a specialization in Zone Learning from Ryerson University. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.
Mark is focused on developing personalized image analysis workflows for analyzing high dimensionality and multi modal imaging datasets, with a specific focus on imaging mass cytometry (IMC), CODEX, and spatial transcriptomics.
Saeid Shahidi
PhD Candidate
Graduate Student
Saeid is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. He completed his Masters degree from Simon Frasier University. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto.
Saeid is focused on studying the potential role of the Mitochondria-Associated Membrane (MAM) in the secretome profile of glioblastoma cells
Emily Poulton
PhD Candidate
Graduate Student
Emily is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. She completed her undergraduate degree in Human Biology at the University of Toronto. Shee is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.
Emily is focused on understanding the role of redox homeostasis and antioxidants within the context of pancreatic cancer.
Aesha Patel
MSc Candidate
Graduate Student
Phoebe Lombard
MSc Candidate
Graduate Student
Phoebe is supervised by Dr. Wouters. She completed her undergraduate degree in BLANK from BLANK. She is currently a Master’s candidate in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.
Vishal Pandya
MSc Candidate
Graduate Student
Vishal is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. He completed his undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from McMaster University. He is currently a Master’s candidate in the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto.
Vishal’s project involves understanding if/how metabolic stress can initiate anti-tumour immune responses in pancreatic cancer.
Favian Retnavarathan
MSc Candidate
Graduate Student
Favian is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto in Molecular Genetics and Cell and Molecular Biology. He is currently a Master’s candidate in the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto.
Undergraduate Students & Volunteers
Patrick Policicchio
Undergraduate Thesis Student
Patrick is supervised by Dr. Wouters. He is completing his undergraduate degree in Life Sciences from the University of Toronto.
Isabel Hodara
Co-op Student
Isabel is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. She is currently a high school co-op student.
Isabel is focused on learning and mastering basic wet lab techniques such as Western Blotting, protein extraction, tissue culture, etc.
Favian Retnavarathan
MSc Candidate
Graduate Student
Favian is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto in Molecular Genetics and Cell and Molecular Biology. He is currently a Master’s candidate in the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto.